It looks like the partnership between Ben Affleck and Matt Damon‘s studio Artist Equity and Amazon MGM will continue to bear fruit. Deadline reports that the companies team up again for “The Accountant 2,” a sequel to the 2016 action drama starring Affleck. It’ll be their fourth collaboration together after Nike shoe drama “Air,” Jennifer Lopez doc “The Greatest Love Story Never Told,” and the upcoming wrestling pic “Unstoppable,” about Anthony Robles.
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But back to “The Accountant 2.” The sequel will see four actors return from the 2016 film: Affleck, Jon Bernthal, J.K. Simmons, and Cynthia Addai-Robinson. Also returning is director Gavin O’Connor, who will once again helm a script by Bill Dubuque. It’ll be O’Connor’s first film since 2020’s “The Way Back,” also starring Affleck. AE and Amazon MGM set up the sequel after acquiring the rights to “The Accountant” from Warner Bros., who produced the original.
Is this a curious pick-up for Aritists Equity? Not really: more like a safe bet. Despite middling reviews, “The Accountant” had respectable numbers at the box office, making $155 million globally against a $44 million budget. The film also had a successful second life on the home video market, being the most-rented digital film of 2017. For those that don’t remember, “The Accountant” stars Affleck as Christian Wolff, an elite CPA with autism who’s also secretly an accountant for criminal organizations. Things go south when Christian double-checks bad numbers for a robotics company, pitting him against both the law and the criminals who hired him. Bernthal plays Christian’s brother Brax, Simmons a Treasury Director, and Addai-Robinson as Medina, a Treasury agent tasked with unveiling the Wolff’s double life.
The sequel picks up where the 2016 movie left off, with Medina reaching out to Christian to track down the assassins that killed her boss. Christian reluctantly brings Brax in to hunt them down, leading them to face off against ruthless adversaries. Affleck and Damon produce the flick through AE, along with Lynette Howell Taylor and Mark Williams through 51 Entertainment. Executive producers on the project include Dani Bernfeld, Kevin Halloran, Michael Joe, and Alison Winter through AE. Scott Lastaiti and Jamie Patricof also serve as executive producers.
All the details about “The Accountant 2” make it sound like the kind of project Affleck likes to work on through AE: a proven commodity made by and with people in his circle. Whether this sequel comes before or after “Animals,” Affleck’s next directing gig and another upcoming AE project, remains to be seen. But don’t fault Affleck and Artists Equity for their formula: it’s working for them so far.
Expect “The Accountant 2” in theaters in 2025.